Cairo social enterprise Helm runs an accessible (Arabic/English, Easy Read/Braille/audio) vocational e-learning platform staffed nearly half by employees with disabilities, training ~8,000 people by mid-2024 with a 40% six-month employment rate.
~8,000 people
Individuals trained by mid-2024 (by mid-2024)
~100 modules
Course modules built (by mid-2024)
44 %
Women among trainees
40 %
Graduates securing employment within six months
~50 %
Share of Helm workforce with disabilities
Details
Maturity
Established
Promoter
Helm
Period
2014–ongoing (Academy since 2021)
Keywords
vocational training, digital accessibility, employment, social enterprise
Context
Helm was founded in Cairo in 2014 by Ramez Maher and Amena El-Saie. In 2021 it launched Helm Academy, an accessible ICT platform for vocational and job-preparedness training, with materials available in Easy Read, Braille and audio.
Activities
Half of Helm's own workforce consists of persons with disabilities, working across technology, operations, HR, learning and development, and accessibility — embedding disabled expertise directly into how courses are designed and delivered.
Results
By mid-2024 the Academy had built a library of roughly 100 course modules and trained about 8,000 individuals across Egypt, 44% of them women, with 40% of graduates securing employment within six months. Helm was named a Zero Project 2025 Awardee.
Conclusions
The documented evidence centres on inclusive staffing and decision-making roles for disabled employees rather than formal co-design workshops with end users, so this is an institutionalised-inclusion case more than a workshop-based participatory-design case.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Helm (co-founders Ramez Maher, Amena El-Saie), ~50% of workforce are persons with disabilities
Conditions for success
Disability-led staffing embedded directly into course design, delivery and accessibility roles
Materials available in Easy Read, Braille and audio
Common failure modes
Evidence centres on institutionalised staffing rather than formal co-design workshops with end users
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